Shaft in Africa

"Shaft is stickin' it...all the way."

1973 1h 52m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🍅

64%

FRESH

⭐

5.9

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 87🍅64%Rotten Tomatoes★5.9IMDB · 3,293

AdventureCrimeThrillerAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Detective John Shaft travels incognito to Ethiopia, then France, to bust a human trafficking ring.

“Shaft is stickin' it...all the way.”

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Cast

Richard Roundtree
John Shaft
Frank Finlay
Vincent Amafi
Vonetta McGee
Aleme
Neda Arnerić
Jazar
Debebe Eshetu
Wassa
Spiros Focás
Marco Sassari
Jacques Herlin
Perreau
Jho Jhenkins
Ziba

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Guillermin
Writers: Stirling Silliphant
Languages: Danish, Afrikaans, Italian, Sardinian, French, Corsican, English, Amharic
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 68% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 8 languages: Danish, Afrikaans, Italian, Sardinian, French, Corsican, English, Amharic.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Shaft Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Guillermin, shot by Marcel Grignon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Johnny Pate. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Max Benedict shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Guillermin directs. Marcel Grignon behind the camera. Johnny Pate scores. Max Benedict cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Danish, Afrikaans, Italian, Sardinian, French, Corsican, English, Amharic.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 68% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
353 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 8 languages: Danish, Afrikaans, Italian, Sardinian, French, Corsican, English, Amharic.
5Part of the "Shaft Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by John Guillermin, shot by Marcel Grignon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Johnny Pate. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Max Benedict shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Richard Roundtree and Frank Finlay and Vonetta McGee carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Shaft is stickin' it...all the way.".
11IMDB entry: tt0070679 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Only 87 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
13Classified under 8 themes, including "paris, france", "language course", "africa", "illegal immigration".

The technical file

Cinematography: Marcel Grignon
Original score: Johnny Pate
Editing: Max Benedict
Production design: John Stoll
Makeup / hair: Mariano García Rey
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,142,000
Box office: $1,458,000
Return: 68% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Shaft in Africa (1973)
Rotten Tomatoes: 64% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 5.9/10 · 3,293 votes
MPAA: R

Part of

Shaft Collection

The Shaft trilogy is composed of action-crime films centered on an African-American police detective named John Shaft, who over the course of the films have altercations with a variety of crime. The films are characterized by their blaxploitation characteristics.